Aviagen inaugurates new hatchery in Brazil

Facility, using Pas Reform technology, is designed to produce about 1.3 million chicks per year

Aviagen America Latina, a key player in broiler genetics worldwide, has celebrated the inauguration of its new grandparent (GP) broiler breeder hatchery, supplied by Pas Reform do Brasil.

Located in Santa Cruz das Palmeiras, in Brazil’s São Paulo state, the green field hatchery development has been designed to produce around 1.3 million female GP chicks per year, with a focus on the production of Ross 308 AP (AP 95) breeders that have, said Ivan Lauandos, president of Aviagen America Latina, delivered excellent field performance in South America.

Hatchery features advanced technology

The new hatchery is equipped with Pas Reform’s most advanced single stage incubation technologies, including nine SmartSetPro-1 and nine SmartSetPro-2 setters and a system for delivering short periods of heat stimulation during storage, to increase hatchability. The setters are equipped with Adaptive Metabolic Feedback (AMF), a unique functionality that adapts the incubator environment specifically to the metabolic needs of the embryos, to create a natural and optimized environment for the birds’ development and Energy Saving Modules (ESM) to deliver substantial energy cost savings and greater sustainability in the hatchery’s operation. SmartTray 162 setter trays, with their space saving honeycomb design, maximize the free movement of air to distribute heat and humidity uniformly during incubation.

Eight SmartHatchPro hatchers are equipped with SmartWatch, to deliver fine control for a reduced hatch window and each hatcher incorporates Pas Reform’s exclusive SurroundingCooling system. The project also includes an autonomous HVAC system, equipped with inlet filters with bacterial protection to generate additional biosecurity.

Aviagen and Pas Reform worked together to design the hatchery for optimized efficiency and sustainability, with the provision to expand the hatchery’s capacity with a further six SmartSetPro1 and six SmartSetPro2 setters plus two additional SmartHatchPro hatchers when required.

With ambitions to support expansion for the supply of high quality day old chicks for the South American market, the new hatchery has, according to project leader Anselmo Micheletti, been strategically located to support national distribution, as well as being close to the Campinas International Airport for export development, in line with Aviagen’s global expansion strategy.

“The development of this project has been a fully cooperative venture with Aviagen, to create a truly state of art hatchery that focuses on quality, sustainability and energy efficiency as cornerstones of Aviagen’s continued growth in South America and beyond,” said Artur Schlick, operations director Pas Reform do Brasil. “It has been a privilege to work on a project of this stature and we look forward to continuing to support Aviagen’s ambitious plans for the future.”